Key Word – 2 Kings 6:1-7

 

Key Text – 2 Kings 6:6 – (NKJV) “So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float.”

Recently, it has become obvious to me that humanity is getting carried away with our ability to solve our problems and deal with the many challenges that face us. This is not bad in a sense, because it means we are accepting responsibility for our actions and making adjustments to make our world a better place. Well that’s the theory of it. It is called Humanism. This would have been excellent, except that man is clueless as to how the earth was made and how it ought to function, without reference to God who created the earth and made man the overseer. Somehow in this arrangement, God never intended for man to become totally independent of Him. Actually God expects man to carry out his responsibilities of tending and keeping the earth, by depending on Him for the knowledge, power and grace to administrate the earth. As it stands now all man’s best efforts are failing and our world seems to be hurtling towards conflagration and bleakness. I really don’t want to be pessimistic, so I would refrain from recounting our many failures.

But today I come as a bearer of good news, not a harbinger of doom. Man can redirect his efforts and reclaim the world in the proper order, if we collectively acknowledge that without the divine, we are really going to be ineffective. Man needs God. Period. Without God’s help, man is doomed to fail. Man will fail without God.

So today’s passage shows us a very incredible story. The sons of the prophet decided to expand their dwelling place. They set about the work by cutting down some trees to make the new homes etc. Suddenly the iron axe-head came loose from the wood and fell into the water. It sank to the bottom immediately. There was no way to retrieve it, it was lost. So the building project will have to be stalled or abandoned, as there is no axe to hew down wood. But they cried out to the man of God, Elisha, and he asked where they feel the axe-head fell into the water. He cut off a piece of wood and threw it into the water and the iron axe-head floated to the surface. Elisha asked the man to pick it up and continue his work. Such a simple solution to a difficult problem???

There are many dimensions to this story to corroborate my position above. But I will deal with a couple today and continue, as I feel led.

1. The wooden part of the Axe is symbolic of man and the Iron is symbolic of God. So in effect the wood alone cannot cut down trees, it needs the iron head, so without God man is useless. But it also important to note, that God has chosen to use man to do His work; so without man, God will not work. This is the mystery of God’s love for mankind.
2. Whatever man needs to do to make this life better requires the help and intervention of God. Man cannot function effectively without the assistance and support of God. Hence the Axe-head. The moment the Axe-head fell off, the building had to be stopped. Once God is out of the equation, our best efforts become futile.
3. God has ways to solve our intractable problems that is beyond the comprehension and capacity of the human logic to explain away. How does a piece of stick thrown into the river make the axe-head float? How? This is totally illogical and no scientific law backs this up. So this is purely a miracle and it in the realms of faith and the supernatural. It is in God’s logic. God’s sense. So all we can do here is simply submit to His superior wisdom and ways.

Today, you may be confronted with a big problem that defies human logic and all your best efforts seem futile. Please remember that there is a God in heaven who created you and who is so powerful there is nothing He cannot do. Please try asking for His help and you will be surprised what His solution maybe. I pray you get a great testimony to share with us.

Finally, I just want to leave you with a thought. How does Jesus hanging on a tree on the Mount of Calvary redeem mankind? And how does one believing in this event save one eternally? Well the floating Axe-head has a clue to this conundrum.

Only believe!!!

 

Let’s Pray: Father God, your ways are not our ways and your thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts. We have sought to solve our problems without your help and we have ended up making a bigger mess. Forgive us. Today, we ask you to intervene in our affairs (Please ask Him specifically for what you need His help with), and help us to have the solutions only you can provide for us. Father, thank you for answering us in your love. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Amen.